{"title":"Eric Freifeld","description":"\u003cp\u003e1919-1984\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEric Freifeld was born in Saratov, Russia and came to Canada in 1924 following the death of his father when he was 5 years old. Freifeld grew up in Alberta and quit school at 16 years old to pursue a career as a full-time artist. In 1937, he won the Carnegie Trust Fund Scholarship to attend the Banff School of Fine Arts. Freifeld later continued his studies at the St. Martin’s School of Art in London, England. During this time, he had a solo show at Brook Street Galleries, which was sold out and critically acclaimed. Soon after, Freifeld came to international recognition. As war threatened in Europe, Freifeld moved to Vancouver, where he had a solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery. With the outbreak of the second World War, Freifeld taught at the Canadian Camouflage School with Jack Shadbolt. He also taught at the Vancouver School of Fine Art. In 1944, Freifeld moved to New York to study at the Art Students’ League. Two years later he returned to Canada, this time settling in Toronto to teach watercolour and figure drawing at the Ontario School of Art (now OCAD), where he taught for thirty years. Writing in the 1986 retrospective catalogue published by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Jack Shadbolt called Freifeld “a visionary with stubborn ideals” with “a lively mind…obsessive humanism and endlessly amused and bewitched curiosity about the human soul and its strange manifestations.” \u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"eric-freifeld-dundas-street","title":"Eric Freifeld - Dundas Street","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(43, 0, 255);\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/mccanseartshop.com\/collections\/eric-freifeld\" style=\"color: rgb(43, 0, 255);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEric Freifeld\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1919-1984\u003cbr\u003eRCA\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTitle: \u003cem\u003eDundas Street\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDate: 1947\u003cbr\u003eMedium: Watercolour\u003cbr\u003eImage size in inches: 13.75 x 19\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes: Signed lower right. Verso with inscription: \"'Dundas Street' \/ 1947 \/ Eric Freifeld \/ To Johnny \u0026amp; Malke, \/ One painting I thought I'd ever [sic] sell. \/ Eric Freifeld.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWas Freifeld aware of the local allegations of the seemingly innocent sandwich shop in the centre of this work? \u003cbr\u003eFreifeld painted this at the corner of Dundas and Pembroke, just east of Jarvis, about 79 years ago. Beneath the Sweet Caporal cigarettes sign you can just make out Norm's Sandwich Bar, an old Toronto establishment with a gritty reputation. Apparently a well-known \"centre of crime and vice.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was not the first time; locals had been clamouring to revoke Norm's license since the 50s, but it wasn't until 1974, after extensive hearings, that it finally happened.  It was deemed a “blight on the community” and “a contact point for criminal activity in the vicinity.\" \"Owner Leslie Den argued that he couldn’t be certain that the crime was happening in his establishment, but the Commission argued that as owner he had a duty to be aware and to prevent soliciting on his premises.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat, if anything, did Freifeld know? Perhaps Freifeld’s inscription on the back gives us a clue…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eP.S. – look lower left and note the obvious reference to the infamous photo of “V-J Day in Times Square”, taken just 2 years prior. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eric Freifeld","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67614856118492,"sku":"FreifeldE-1001","price":2500.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/3565\/7948\/files\/FreifeldE-1001.jpg?v=1790863209"}],"url":"https:\/\/mccanseartshop.com\/collections\/eric-freifeld.oembed","provider":"McCanse Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}